Furnace por burning explosive charges prom puses and percussion caps op



Aug 18, 1925. 1,549.896

' G. ALLISON FURNACE FOR BURNING EXPLOSIVE CHARGES FROM FUSES AND PERCUSSION CAPS 0F ARTILLERY AMMUNITIO Filed Oct. 29. 1924 ustare A 11119012.

ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 18, 1925.

UNITED stares rarest cri ics.

GUSTAVE ALLISON, 0F PERTH AMJBOY, NEW JERSEY, AS'SIGNOR TO COLUMBIA. SAL- VAG'E CORPORATION, OF NEVJ' YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FURNACE FOR BURNING EXPLUSIVE CHARGE$ FROM FUSES AND PERCUSSION CAPS OF ARTILLERY AMMUNITION.

Application filed October 29, 1924. Serial No. 746,632.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, GUSTAVE ALLisoN, a citizen of the United States and resident of Perth Amboy, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Furnaces for Burning Explosive Charges from Fuses and Percussion Caps of Artillery Ammunition, of which the following is a speci fication.

This invention relates to the art of salvaging artillery ammunition and has for an object the provision of means for quickly and safely removing the explosive charges from certain of the small separable parts of explosive shells such as fuses and percussion caps in order that said parts may be safely cast into a reduction furnace for the purpose of salvaging their metal.

A further object is the provision of a furnace adapted to accommodate large quantities of the work and to burn or explode the explosive charges therefrom with perfect safety to the operator of the furnace, the furnace being also designed to facilitate the charging of the work into it and to facilitate the removal of the work after the explosive charges are burned therefrom.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of the furnace;

Fig. 2 a side View thereof partly in section; and

Fig. 3 a detail section through one of the furnace charging chutes on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the parts by numerals 1 designates the fire box or fuel combustion chamber which is built of brick and rests upon a foundation, 2. The top of the fire box is formed by a series of transversely.

disposed rails 3 which are connected together by longitudinally extending rods 4. The rails 8 are slightly spaced apart and form a grate over the fuel combustion chamber. A semi-cylindrical stout metal casing 5 is supported upon the rails, and, with the grate, defines a heating chamber 6. The casing 5 is formed with end walls 7 in each of which is a door-way 8. These doorways are adapted to be closed by doors 9 which are slidable vertically between guides 10 mounted upon the ends of the casing. Each door 9 has a flexible wire 11 connected thereto and extending upwardly and outwardly over pulleys 12 supported by brack' ets 13 mounted. on the casing. A counterbalancing weight 14 is connected to the outer end of each wire and serves to hold the door in its upper or open position. A.

smoke stack 15 is mounted upon the casing 5 intermediate the length of the casing and communicates with the heating chamber 6. This stack is of considerable height in order to ensure a strong draft from the fuel combustion through the heating chamber and in order to deliver the fumes from the burning powder well above the operator of the furnace. The burning or exploding of the charges from the work takes place within the heating chamber 6 and in order to safely deliver the work to said chamber, two charging chutes 16 are provided. The chutes are mounted upon and extend through the easing 5, are located at opposite sides and adjacent opposite ends of the casing and incline downwardly toward the center of the casing. Each chute is tubular in form and has an open outer end to receive the work and a baffle 17 extending across its inner or delivery end within the heating chamber. At one side of the delivery end of the chute and inwardly of the baffle 17 is formed a delivery opening 18 which is out of alinement with the charging opening of the chute. This arrangement of the delivery opening and of the baffle prevents any of the work from being driven out through the chute by the explosions, and thus protects the furnace operator and enables him to continue to charge the furnace during the time that the work within the furnace is being treated by the heat and the explosive charges burned or exploded therefrom.

The fuse of a shrapnel shell is in the form of a ring which is mounted upon the removable nose of the shell and contains a circular train of powder. Both the ring and the shell nose are formed of brass and are of considerable commercial value if rendered fit for salvaging operations to be per: formed thereon. In order to render the salvaging operations safe it is first necessary to remove the powder train from the fuse. The fuse ring is so mounted upon the shell nose as to render it very difiicult to remove therefrom and the powder train is inaccessible until the ring has been removed. This renders it laborious and dangerous to operate upon the shell noses individually to remove the fuse charge.

The furnace shown and described herein renders it possible to remove the charges from large quantities of work with ease, quickness and perfect safety. The shell noses with the fuse rings thereon are charged into the chutes 16 and gravitate upon the rails of the grate where they are subjected to sufiicient heat to burn or explode the charges therefrom. The furnace is so designed as to completely protect the operator from the blasts of the explosions. hen the explosive charges have been removed, the end doors 9 are opened and the work scraped or pushed off of the grate rails and out through the door-ways 8 which are on a level with said rails.

YVhile the furnace is described as adapted to treat sl rapnel fuses, it is obviously, well adapted to treat other small parts of explosive shells such as percussion caps.

VJhat I claim is:

A furnace for the purpose set forth comprising a heating chamber, and an inclined tubular charging chute extending through one wall of said chamber and formed with a charging opening exteriorly of the heating chamber, a baflie across its inner end within the heating chamber and-with a delivery opening located at the lower side of said inner end out of alinement with said charging opening, the said chute inclining downwardly continuously from the charging opening to the delivery opening.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

GUSTAVE ALLISON. 

